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Greetings!
THE FRONT RANGE BIRDING
COMPANY - FRBC:
A Nature Center For You and Your
Family
online at frontrangebirding.com
| WILD DELIGHT & FRBC LAUNCH THE 2010 PHOTO CONTEST |
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$375 worth of premium Wild Delight seed is up for grabs to the top 3 winners!
Thanks to the enthusiastic popular demand of our valued customers, we at FRBC have once again secured the partnership of the Wild Delight Company of Greeley, Colorado to co-sponsor with us the annual Front Range Birding Photo Contest. This is our 6th year to enjoy all the incredible wildlife photos that people who visit our nature store provide us. All you need is a camera and the photographic opportunity to snap that perfect shot. Above Matt Safranski of Wild Delight awards Clint Shoemaker the 2009 1st Place award.
Whether you are on the trail or in the backyard you never know when that opportunity will present itself - Sooo always be ready! . We will be looking for the best backyard or in-the-field photo.
The contest rules remain essentially the same and no purchase is necessary. Visitors in the store will be given the opportunity to judge and rank the top 3 entrants. Remember picture quality, subject uniqueness, and creative talent all count in the voting process.Please don't be shy, even if you are not a prize winner the contest is great fun and everyone enjoys all the wonderful photos.
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Pictured above is Clint Shoemaker's first place photo in the 2009 contest of fledgling Barnswallows awaiting their next meal.
The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners will receive $200, $100, and $75 worth of premium Wild Delight birdseed respectively.
Contest Rules:
- 4" x 6" photos of birds & wildlife
only
- Accepting photos from Oct 1 till Nov
30
- Voting done in store by customers
Dec 1 till Dec 31
- Winners will be announced January 5,
2011
- All species count (even squirrels,
bears & raccoons!)
- 1st place gets $200, 2nd place gets
$100, & 3rd gets $75 of premium Wild
Delight Bird food
Good luck and good shooting (photos that
is!) Sharpen your skills for next year's contest by joining me on a special birding photography trip to the Texas Rio Grande Valley with photographer Bill Schmoker March 20-26. See details below.
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| 20% OFF FALL SEED SALE ON FOR ENTIRE MONTH OF OCTOBER |
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Anything birds eat will be on sale at 20 percent off regular price for all of October.
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You can use our Seed Vault program and save for months to come. Buy as much as you like and we will keep it at the store fresh.
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This popular FRBC seed vault program alows you to pick up your seed anytime you like as you need it.
There is no time limit on withdrawing your seed from storage at the store. Your savings are locked in no matter what the economic future of seed prices bestows upon us.
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| SPORT BIRDING WITH THE FRONT RANGE BIRDING COMPANY |
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At FRBC we will continue our series on Sport Birding through our partnerships with organizations like the Audubon Society of Greater Denver (ASGD.) We also have a great relationship with the Partnership for International Birding (PIB) and participate in a number of high quality birding adventures with them. We just returned from a terrific trip with the ASGD to Walden, Colorado and viewed many of the colonial nesting birds there to include among many others the American White Pelican (see featured article.)
If you think this "sport" may be for you let us help. Our expertise and knowledge of where, when, and how can get you started on a life-long extremely stimulating and pleasurable endeavor. .
The incredible world of birding is at your doorstep.
Join us with the ASGD the first Sunday of each month as we WALK THE WETLANDS of Chatfield State Park. This very popular walk always is full of surprises.
- Sunday, November 7, 2010, 9:00 am -
Noon
- Sunday, December 5, 2010, 9:00 am-
Noon
LEADERS: Hugh & Urling Kingery
(303-814-2723) and other
Master Birders
Pre-registration is NOT required. Meet in
the parking lot at the Audubon Center at
Chatfield. The Audubon Center is
located on Waterton Road, 4.4 miles south
of C-470 and Wadsworth.
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| Rio Grande Valley Bird Photography Trip with Bill Schmoker |
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Our next trip with PIB will be to the Rio Grande Valley region of South Texas with trip leader Bill Schmoker. This trip will focus on bird photography and the art of digiscoping. Check out the Rio Grande Valley on line at http://www.pibird.com/. It promises to be a very special trip where we expect to see over 200 species of birds. This trip is not about ticking off the next new species and then moving on. This is about taking the time needed for great bird photography. If you are a wildlife photographer, or just starting to photograph birds, Bill will make you feel comfortable no matter what your photography level.
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| June 4-11 and June 11 to 17, 2011 Bird North Dakota and Boreal Forest of Minnesota |
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This trip covers the prairie potholes habitat in North
Dakota and the boreal forest in Minnesota. Numerous
other habitats are visited with excellent opportunities to view many species to include as many as 20 nesting warblers.
We are offering two trips. For details visit www.pibirding.com.
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| REACH OUT WITH FRONT RANGE BIRDING TO GREAT BIRDING SITES |
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Birding in Ecuador
photo by John Drummond
Our partner PIB will offer monthly trip opportunities to all parts of Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands starting in November, 2010. These trips are with Neblina Forest Tours (the largest and most experienced South American birding tour company.) You will be introduced to the incredible landscape of Ecuador peppered with wild rivers, tropical rain forest, and volcanoes.
Expect to see over 300 species of birds!
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For More Information or to Register for this Trip, call Charles or Alison at
888-203-7464 or Charles directly at 720-320-1974 or by email at
[email protected].
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| HOGBACK HONEY - THE 2010 HARVEST IS IN! |
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Pure raw local honey.
The bees produced over 450 pounds of
honey this year at our new location at Jared's Garden Center on Bowles Ave. in Littleton. The honey tastes great!
We are also in contact with other local
beekeepers for access to their honey
crops as well. Check with us for availability.
Bee there!
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| From all the crew at Front Range Birding - Thanks for your support of our nature store. |
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Enjoy all nature has to offer!
Tom, Sara, Diane, Shannon, Dave, and
Jennifer.
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FRONTRANGE SPECIES PROFILE: THE AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN |
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Pelecannus erythrorhynchos
Photo by Dick Vogel
Our latest FRBC trip to Walden, Colorado and the North Park region with the Audubon Society of Greater Denver netted over 80 species of birds in various habitats and situations. None however in my mind eclipsed the wonder and grandeur of the American White Pelican. This huge white fisherman spreads black tipped wings that can reach 9 1/2 feet! These colonial nesters of islands in certain Colorado lakes and reservoirs are carefully monitored by the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) which keep detailed annual records on the health of the pelican population in the state.
The White Pelican breeds in the isolated lakes of North America well into Canada but will migrate away from frozen lake areas south to find it's primary food source which consists almost entirely of fish and crustaceans. White Pelicans travel in flocks riding thermals and are quite a majestic site to behold climbing and turning catching beams of sunlight resembling specks of bright white confetti swirling in the wind. When not spiriling the thermals, flocks can be seen traveling in classic V fromations.
As with other colony nesters, White Pelicans seek the safety of islands to protect their eggs and young from predation. Their colonies can be just a few to more than one hundred pair and the nests are little more than slight depressions in the ground. The female does not have a brood patch and will incubate her eggs on the top of her web feet. Pelicans are apparently monogamous and both sexes will share incubation duties of one to six eggs (usually two) for 21 to 28 days. The young hatch altricial (naked with no feathers) and after gaining enough independence gather on the Islands in pods and will be able to fly in about 60 days.
Like their relative the Brown Pelican, White Pelicans are highly social and gregarious. They live in flocks with families staying together throughout the year. All pelicans are strong swimmers and in flight they rival the eagle. However on land they are ungraceful and slow. To get their weight airborne they need a good headwind or enough runway/waterway to run along to beat their large wings to lift off.
Unlike the Brown Pelican of coastal marine habitats that hunts alone plunge-diving for fish, White Pelicans forage in cooperative groups herding fish toward their skin pouches suspended from their long lower bills. This pouch can scoop about three gallons of water hopefully full of fish. The pouch is very sensitive and pelicans are able to feel for fish even in the dark. There is a record of one pelican group that kept a blind member of the colony alive in this cooperative feeding manner attesting to their close family ties. The pouch serves not only as a dip net but in hot weather as a temperature controller keeping their huge bodies cool.
Thanks to current habitat preservation, the American White Pelican population appears to be stable and in good shape. However during the 1960s and 1970s the Brown Pelican population crashed because of DDT use. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the listing the Brown as endangered seems to have brought them back from the brink of extinction.
Be sure to get out to Chatfield or Barr lake to see our Colorado contingent of American White Pelicans.
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The Front Range Birding Company - A Proud Corporate Sponsor of the Audubon Society of Greater Denver
CORINTHIAN BELLS WINDCHIMES BY QMT ASSOCIATES: The folks at QMT of Manassas Park, VA are committed to providing the best chimes on the market, all proudly made in the USA.
Great Optics are here at FRBC. Leica, Swarovski, Vortex and now Zeiss are offering exceptional deals on their high quality products.
THE TILLEY ENDURABLES AT FRBC: TILLEY HATS GREAT GIFTS FOR MEN AND WOMEN
PARASOL HAND-BLOWN GLASS HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS
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